Category Archives: #BBLM

#BBLM, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-racism, Benicia Black Lives Matter, Benicia CA, Police misconduct, Police reform, Racism

Confronting Benicia PD’s Bias: Black Community Stopped Almost 6x More Often than White

Breaking Down Benicia Police Stops

SF Chronicle.

Benicia Police Department officers were 5.7 times more likely to stop Black people than white people based on stops per 10,000 residents. Officers stopped people 4,283 times in 2023.

SF Chronicle, by Emma Stiefe,
Passed in 2015, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) required California police agencies to submit detailed data on every stop their officers made to the California Department of Justice. The law was intended to end identity-based profiling. It also created the RIPA board, which releases an annual report analyzing the data law enforcement agencies submit.
RIPA requires law enforcement officers to document information on every person they stop, including the individual’s race, gender and other identity attributes. Because the data is based on officers’ perceptions, this demographic data may not reflect how a person actually identifies. The data includes all stops officers make, such as traffic stops (the majority) and pedestrian stops.
The Benicia Police Department has reported this detailed data to the state since 2022. The data below reveals significant disparities in stop rates and, crucially, in whether the stops lead to an enforcement action like an arrest. These differences have fueled a growing debate over whether to end a police practice known as pretextual stops, in which officers use relatively minor infractions — often traffic violations — to probe for guns, drugs and other larger crimes.
Racial disparities in traffic stops are likely the result of many factors, including differences across groups in driving frequency and behavior, the level of police presence in that group’s community, and racial profiling. The degree to which racial profiling causes disparities in stops is disputed, though most research suggests bias plays some role. In a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 44% of Black adults said they believed they had been unfairly stopped by police because of their race.
Read more about how we analyzed the data here.
Read more about what politicians and police say about the data here.
#BBLM, #BlackLivesMatter, Benicia Black Lives Matter

Benicia Schools honor Ruby Bridges


BENICIA BLACK LIVES MATTER
…OUR VOICES…

From BeniciaBlackLivesMatter.com
[See also: About BBLM]

“Benicia Schools joined thousands of other schools around the country to commemorate and celebrate Ruby Bridges, who was one of the first African American children to attend an all white school in the segregated South.”

November 22, 2022
By Sheri Leigh, a member of Benicia Black Lives Matter

Last week, several of the Benicia Schools joined thousands of other schools around the country to commemorate and celebrate Ruby Bridges, who was one of the first African American children to attend an all white school in the segregated South.  This was the second year that any of our schools participated in this important event.  Last year, Benicia Black Lives Matters (BBLM) partnered with the PTA and the administration at Robert Semple Elementary School to hold the first march and celebration in Benicia to honor the young American heroine and her family for the brave decision to risk Ruby’s personal safety and comfort to help create a more equitable future for all American children.  Every student at Robert Semple was present for readings of Ruby Bridges books and Ms. Bridges’ letter to students.  The children were enrapt while listening to the readings and asked in depth questions about Ruby’s life. The event at Robert Semple was so moving and powerful that BBLM worked with the City and School District to make this an annual, City-wide event.

Ruby Bridges was born in 1954 during the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, shortly after , Brown v. The Board of Education was enacted.  The famous Supreme Court ruling declared that separate public schools for white children, from which children of color were banned, was unconstitutional.  The segregated schools had six years to integrate.  Many of the southern states were extremely resistant, waiting until the end of the transition period or until they were forced into compliance by the US government.

In 1960, young Ruby was living in New Orleans, Louisiana, which was one of the last southern areas to enforce the federal mandate of integrated schools.  As Ruby prepared to enter the first grade, her parents responded to a request from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans schools.  With the intent of continuing to keep Black children out, the Orleans Parish School Board opted to administer a rigorous entrance exam at their all-white schools. Ruby was one of six Black children who passed the challenging admissions test.  Two of the other five children decided not to attend the soon to be integrated schools.  Three of the others were transferred to McDonogh Elementary, and Ruby was sent alone to William Frantz Elementary.

On Ruby’s first day of school, the white community and nearly all of the white families protested by pulling out their children from that school and/or by gathering at the school entrance to shout at and threaten the small girl and her escorts.  It was reported that Ruby conducted herself with dignity and stoicism.  She did not cringe or cry, but simply ignored the threats as she bravely walked into the building.  All but one teacher protested by refusing to teach.  Although most of the children and teachers eventually came back, Ruby was taught in class by herself for the first year by Barbara Henry, a teacher from Boston.

The impacts of her bravery were harsh on Ruby and her family.  Her father was dismissed from his job.  Stores refused to sell goods to the family.  Her grandparents in Mississippi lost their land.  Her parents, under extreme stress, eventually divorced.  But there was support as well.  One family in the community donated clothing and supplies to Ruby to help aid her success.  A local psychiatrist volunteered his time to provide Ruby with mental health support, and she remained strong and mentally sound despite the stress.

Today, Ruby Bridges (now Ruby Bridges Hall) still lives in New Orleans with her husband and sons.  She is an activist for tolerance and equity and the chair of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which she formed in 1999 to promote “the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences.” Describing the mission of the group, she says, “racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it.”

On Monday, November 14, with the help and support of members from BBLM and the community, the Benicia City Schools organized walks, pledges, displays and in-school activities to commemorate the tremendous efforts that were made by Ruby Bridges and others to provide a safe, integrated and equitable education for all children in this country.  Robert Semple, Joe Henderson and several of our other schools participated with great enthusiasm.  Although some of our schools sadly minimized the activities or did not participate at all, this is a tremendous step Benicia Schools have made towards the recognition and celebration of the history of all our families.

If you would like more information about Ruby Bridges Day or the efforts of BBLM, please contact us through www.benicia blacklivesmatter.weebly.com

Previous ‘Our Voices’ stories here on the BenIndy at
Benicia Black Lives Matter – Our Voices
     or on the BBLM website at
beniciablacklivesmatter.weebly.com/ourvoices

#BBLM, #BlackLivesMatter, Benicia Black Lives Matter

‘Our Voices’ – One Benicia Man’s Contribution to California History


BENICIA BLACK LIVES MATTER
…OUR VOICES…

From BeniciaBlackLivesMatter.com
[See also: About BBLM]

“One of our early Black residents was a local barber named Joseph McAfee – a contributing citizen, a soldier, and an underground activist. It is likely McAfee arrived in California in the early to mid-1840s…”

October 14, 2022
By Sheri Leigh, a member of Benicia Black Lives Matter

When you look around the streets of Benicia, it is obvious that there are fewer Black faces than white.  The 2020 population data from the US Census reports that there are only 3.22% African Americans and 9.51% People of Mixed Race living here.  However, this data is only reflective of numbers, not of the remarkable history of Blacks living in Benicia.  Here is one Benicia man’s story, steeped in California and American history.

In September of 1850, when the State of California was admitted into the Union, there were 21 Black residents within Solano County.  Six of them resided in Benicia, which at that time, had a total population of 480 people.  One of our early Black residents was a local barber named Joseph McAfee – a contributing citizen, a soldier, and an underground activist.

It is likely McAfee arrived in California in the early to mid-1840s, during the great Western migration, when California was still a Mexican territory.  At that time, slavery was legal in this territory, and most Blacks arrived here with their subjugators.  Fourteen of the 21 original Black Solano County residents were bound for Vacaville as “indentured” slaves.  Although it is not clear whether McAfee was a former slave or not, he allegedly arrived in California as a free man.

In June of 1846, Joseph McAfee joined many other California settlers in Sonoma for the rebellion known as the Bear Flag Incident, a revolt instigated by John C. Fremont against Mexican government rule.  With McAfee’s and other Black participants’ help, the rebellion prevailed.  Mexican general Mariano Vallejo was temporarily imprisoned, and the territory was declared the “Bear Flag Republic,” which paved the way for eventual California statehood.

In 1849, McAfee, along with hundreds of other African Americans, joined the George Wyatt gold mining expedition.  They mined at Murphy’s Diggings in Calaveras County.  A year later, many of the enslaved Blacks who joined the party were able to purchase their freedom with their earnings from the prosperous mine.

Meanwhile, as California prepared to become a State, the status of People of Color did not improve.  In 1849, during the California Constitutional Convention held in Monterey, lawmakers enacted several discriminatory pieces of legislation which further disenfranchised Africans, descendants of Africans, and Native American people. The new laws interfered with daily freedoms, rights to land ownership, citizenship, and other oppressive codes similar to those enacted in other parts of the country during  that time.

In 1850, as California was granted statehood, Joseph McAfee settled in Benicia and opened up a community barbershop with his earnings from the gold mines.  Although California was declared a “Free State,” within a year the new State of California passed its own version of the Fugitive Slave Act, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners.  McAfee took action and joined the other local abolitionists in the establishment and operation of the Western Underground Railroad in Solano County, creating a safe haven for those seeking freedom from slavery during pre-Civil War California.

McAfee remained in Benicia until the mid-1860s before moving to Santa Cruz, shortly after the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery in all States.  His efforts in the Underground Railroad helped to empower those who were wrongfully enslaved and secured a path towards a more equitable society.  And his contributions helped bring a special part of history to Benicia.

Now, nearly 160 years later, there is still work to be done.  Although legally all citizens have the right to freedom, land and business ownership, voting, etc. there is still racial discrimination, both systemically and individually, directed towards People of Color.  It continues to be the goal of Benicia Black Lives Matter and other organizations directed towards positive change to help usher in a new, more equitable era free from racism and discrimination.  If you would like to join us in this effort, please contact us at www.benicia blacklivesmatter.com.

*The information in this article is based on information from the “North Bay Area African American TimeLine 1850-1925” and a 2012 article from the Daily Republic, entitled, “Exhibit Highlights Benicia’s African American Heritage,” written by Ian Thompson. 

Previous ‘Our Voices’ stories here on the BenIndy at
Benicia Black Lives Matter – Our Voices
     or on the BBLM website at
beniciablacklivesmatter.weebly.com/ourvoices